The Bears told Caleb Williams to watch the Rams‘ Matthew Stafford.
There wasn’t much similar about the quarterbacks’ styles, especially with the Rams quarterback entering his age 37 season. Coach Ben Johnson found Stafford’s vision and footwork to be special when he was a Lions assistant and the quarterback played there, though. When Johnson was hired a year ago, he wanted his new quarterback to mimic him.
During the offseason, Williams studied the man who’d become this year’s favorite to win the MVP.
“His feet are always under him,” Williams said Wednesday before a walk-through at Halas Hall. “He can make any throw at any time. The guys are in his face, O-linemen may be getting pushed back, not looking, all these different things. And it comes down to his feet. He ties the routes with his receivers — the timing, all of that — with his feet.”
Williams is special with his feet in a different way. No one in the NFL rolls left and throws with as much accuracy, zip or flair. Had he not found Rome Odunze for a fourth-quarter gain Saturday, the Bears wouldn’t have advanced to face Stafford’s Rams in the playoffs Sunday at Soldier Field.
Johnson, though, wanted Williams to watch Stafford’s footwork fundamentals — and so much more.
“I think it starts there with him,” Johnson said. “But then, as you talk about an experienced player that sees the field really well, he understands defenses. He knows how to manipulate defenses. He’s got a great feel for the game and that translates to everything he does every single week.””
Williams has only met Stafford once, and briefly — last year when the Bears beat the Rams at Soldier Field. Still, there’s a lot of Stafford in the new, better version of Williams.
Stafford has what Williams calls “snake eyes” — the ability to look away to get a defender to move with his eyes, and then throwing the ball where the defender used to be. It’s not quite a no-look throw, but it’s a magic trick nonetheless.
“Moving the defender out of the way without actually having anybody near or around him,” he said.
More than anything, though, Stafford has faith in his receivers.
“Trusting and believing in his guys to be in the right position at the right time,” Williams said.
Belief has been a big word for the Bears quarterback this year. He’s spoken after wins about trusting his teammates in the moments that mattered post. That’s what happened on fourth-and-eight with 5:37 left in the game Saturday night, when Williams rolled to his left and, with Packers linebacker Isaiah McKenzie diving at his feet, jumped like a second baseman turning a double play. While hanging in the air, he threw a strike to Odunze, who had doubled back to the line of scrimmage along the left sideline, for a 27-yard gain. Five plays later, the Bears scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to move within three points of a game they’d eventually win, 31-27.
“It’s fourth-and-you-have-to-make-it …’” cornerback Kyler Gordon said. “I watched him roll out and kind just like jump fade away again. I’m like, ‘Damn, another fadeaway.’ …Rome was there. And just the way [Williams] led it backwards so that the DB who was undercutting couldn’t get it — I just thought it was just amazing.
“So I’ve watched it plenty more times on social media and I was just like, ‘That’s why does what he does. He’s one of them guys.’”
Johnson knows what to expect from Williams, who has a league-leading seven fourth quarter comebacks to his name this season — and none more important than Saturday’s.
“We just make sure we’re on the same page in terms of what the situation is, what we need to accomplish and how quickly we need to accomplish it,” Johnson said. “But beyond that, it’s not like he needs a pep talk or a rah-rah or anything like that. He’s ready to go. …
“He rises to the occasion time and time again. It’s really impressive to see a young player like this be so clutch.”
Rams coach Sean McVay said he could feel that confidence come through the game film.
“He’s an explosive play waiting to happen,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “It’s why they can get back in games and finish the way that they have. I think there’s a belief that they’ve established. … I think he had full expectation to lead them down the field. “
The jump-throw has since become a social media meme. And a T-shirt. Squint, and you can superimpose Nike’s “Jumpman” logo, a stand-in for the greatest Chicago athlete ever, over a photo of Williams leaping over the fallen Packer, throwing the ball to Odunze.
The quarterback tried to downplay all of that attention Wednesday. He joked that there will be time to appreciate Saturday’s win against the Packers — maybe 10 or 15 years from now, when he’s retired.
“I’ve had a couple passes like that going left where I’ve ended up being in the air in that way — a few times in college and things like that, and high school,” he said. “I’m kind of used to it.”
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